Best Bookbinders Philadelphia Snapper Soup Recipes

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BOOKBINDER RED SNAPPER SOUP



Bookbinder Red Snapper Soup image

This soup has been served at the Drake Hotel in Chicago since it opened for business in 1933. The Drake adapted it from the snapper soup from Bookbinders restaurant in Philadelphia, using RED snapper instead of turtle. Recipe is from the Chicago Tribune Good Eating Cookbook.

Provided by Hey Jude

Categories     Lunch/Snacks

Time 1h5m

Yield 8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 22

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
12 white peppercorns or 12 black peppercorns, crushed
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
8 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
salt
2 small onions, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
1 -2 red snapper fillet (10 oz.)
1/4 cup sherry wine (optional)

Steps:

  • To make soup base, heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat; add carrots, celery, garlic, onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper; cook, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.
  • Stir in peppercorns, bay leaf, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, and cilantro; cook 2 minutes and add 7 cups of the vegetable broth; heat to boil.
  • Melt butter in a small saucepan; add flour and cornstarch, cook, stirring constantly, 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Slowly whisk in remaining 1 cup broth until mixture is smooth; add mixture to soup base; cover and simmer over medium-low heat 20 minutes.
  • Taste and adjust seasonings.
  • Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth; discard solids and return broth to pot.
  • To make snapper, heat water to boil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat; add onions and celery; blanch until soft, about 3 minutes.
  • Remove with a slotted spoon and add to broth.
  • Boil fish in the same water until cooked through.
  • Remove fish from water; flake very finely with a fork.
  • Stir snapper and sherry, if desired, into soup base; heat through.

BOOKBINDER'S PHILADELPHIA SNAPPER SOUP



Bookbinder's Philadelphia Snapper Soup image

Pilfered this recipe from recipe gold mine. Can't wait to try it (well, the politically correct version at least. I doubt I could get my hands on some turtle meat anyway!)Here's their description "This is a traditional dish served at the famous Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philadelphia. It should be made with turtle meat, but you can substitute lean stewing beef. It will taste the same." P.S. I've had this at this restaurant many times in the restaurant's previous life (closed and re-opened again recently) and this is one of my two fav's from this restaurant. The recipe didn't say how many it served, so I guessed!

Provided by CHRISSYG

Time 5h

Yield 8-10 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 19

1 lb turtle meat or 1 lb stewing beef, lean
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup celery, diced
1/3 cup onion, diced
1/3 cup carrot, diced
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 quart beef stock
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
1/3 cup cream sherry
1/4 teaspoon whole mixed pickling spice

Steps:

  • Place turtle or beef in stock pot with 1 1/2 quarts water. Bring to a boil. Skim during cooking. Simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender.
  • Strain meat from stock. Dice meat into 1/4 inch pieces. Set both aside.
  • Cook vegetables in butter until onions are translucent. Add beef stock.
  • In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup water into paprika and flour until smooth. Add tomato purée and spices.
  • Stir into beef stock until well blended. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
  • Strain soup.
  • Place vegetables into food processor or blender and purée.
  • Mix cornstarch with remaining water and blend until smooth. Add to soup and cook 15 minutes, stirring, until stock is thickened.
  • Add meat and vegetable purée.
  • Remove from direct heat. Add sherry right before serving.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 169.4, Fat 6.5, SaturatedFat 3.9, Cholesterol 43.6, Sodium 636, Carbohydrate 11.3, Fiber 0.9, Sugar 2.2, Protein 13.7

VINCENT PRICE BOOKBINDER SNAPPER SOUP



Vincent Price Bookbinder Snapper Soup image

Here is the Bookbinder Snapper Soup recipe from Vincent Price's "A Treasury of Great Recipes" (1965). It differs from the Chicago Tribune Good Eating Cookbook version in various ways, most notably by being the original and uses snapping turtle. Mr. Price notes: "...you can make a sort of 'mock snapper' soup using a red snapper." Instructions on how to make the subsitution are in the recipe. This is an old fashioned recipe, and doesn't take many shortcuts. Info on the "Old Original Bookbinders" Philadelphia restaurant is available on Wikipedia.

Provided by Julesong

Categories     < 4 Hours

Time 2h50m

Yield 12 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 18

5 lbs frozen snapping turtle (snapping turtle in the shell)
3 quarts water
3 tablespoons beef extract
3 quarts beef stock
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups tomato puree (sauce)
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 bay leaf (fresh, if possible)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups flour
3 hard-cooked eggs
1 cup dry sherry
2 lemons, halved and thinly sliced (24 slices)

Steps:

  • In a large soup kettle cook the frozen snapper (in the shell) in the 3 quarts water for 90 minutes.
  • When the turtle meat is tender, remove the snapper from the pot and allow to cool. Pick the meat from the shell, keep warm, and set aside.
  • Put the turtle shell back into the snapper stock, along with the beef extract, beef stock, carrots, celery, onion, marjoram, salt and pepper (to taste), tomato puree, Tabasco, bay leaf, and garlic.
  • Simmer for 30 minutes and strain.
  • In a separate container mix together the melted butter with the flour. Beat the butter/flour mixture into the soup until smooth.
  • Cut the snapper meat into small pieces and add to soup. Add the chopped hard-cooked eggs to soup. Stir in the sherry and sliced lemons. Let soup simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
  • Presentation: Serve soup in a tureen. Into each soup bowl ladle some of the snapper meat, a couple slices lemon, and some soup. Pass a small pitcher of sherry and let each person add some to his/her soup according to taste.
  • Using red snapper instead of turtle: Cook the skin, head, and bones of the fish with some of the flesh for 90 minutes in 3 quarts of water. Proceed with recipe. Dice about a cup and a half of the snapper fillets and add them to the soup for the last half hour.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 280.7, Fat 9.9, SaturatedFat 5.6, Cholesterol 73.3, Sodium 888, Carbohydrate 24.6, Fiber 2.9, Sugar 4.8, Protein 7.4

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